If the first trailer is a fair representation of the feature film to come, “Exodus: Gods and Kings” will be a Bible-based movie of epic proportions. But will critics — and audiences — be inspired by the digitally enhanced scenes of burning cities and crashing tidal waves?”All the drama of the Bible story seems to be in place,” The Guardian reported. “(Director Ridley) Scott has perhaps zeroed in on the intimate human struggle between (Moses and the Pharoah), but there is still his skill for indelible imagery and scale.”

“The first trailer … is here — and it’s pretty much what you’d expect,” wrote Peter Chattaway for Patheos. “Spectacular images, an enormous sense of scale, and hints of a brotherly love between Moses and Ramses that turns sour when Moses and his God turn against the Egyptians and their gods to liberate the Hebrew slaves. Oh, and horses. Lots and lots of horses.”

However, optimism about the upcoming film was tempered by concern over the all-white cast. “It’s worth noting that … Egypt is mostly comprised of white people,” Slate reported. “That’s nothing new for Hollywood blockbusters, but here the effect is jarring because none of the main actors … look remotely Egyptian, even while bedecked in intricate costumes and makeup.”

Scheduled to be released in December, the film’s storyline will be familiar to fans of “The Ten Commandments,” “Exodus” and, of course, the Bible. It follows Moses (Christian Bale) as he obeys God’s command to free the Israelites from Egypt.

Patheos offered a shot-by-shot analysis of the trailer, noting that the dialogue is between Moses and the Egyptian leaders. There are no thundering commandments from God to set the tone. Instead, the film centers on human relationships.

“You say this is not your fault,” says Ramses to Moses. “So let’s just see who’s more effective at killing. You, or me.”

Director Ridley Scott has been vocal about his intention to focus on the character of Moses rather than build the film around big moments like the parting of the Red Sea or the 10 plagues. He’s not interested in “the big stuff that everybody knows,” Screen Rant reported.

And Scott himself may be keeping the trend alive into 2015. “20th Century Fox, Chernin Entertainment and Ridley Scott are already looking to reteam on another Old Testament character: David,” Variety reported.

Email: kdallas@deseretnews.com Twitter: @kelsey_dallas

Images: Screenshots from the Official ‘Exodus: Gods and Kings’ Trailer

"What your beliefs are about money creates your actions. And the problem is some of us have bad beliefs.” There are something deeper behind Dave Ramsey's ideas, a spiritual side is vital to how he found financial peace.

Michael De Groote, Deseret NewsEditor’s note: During the question and answer portions of this article, questions have been edited for length and clarity.

Twenty-five years ago, Dave Ramsey turned the hot water up and stood in the shower, the stream blasting into his face, mixing with his tears and the terror of financial ruin. “We were so scared we didn’t know what to do,” he said. “I would just stand there and cry.”

Ramsey was a hotshot real estate investor and had borrowed his way into about $4 million in properties in the Nashville area. Then it fell apart. He signed the bankruptcy papers on Sept. 22, 1988.

Now, more than a quarter of a century later, Ramsey walked onto the stage in Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, greeted by a sold-out crowd that jumped to its feet in a standing ovation before he said a word. It was one stop of his “Legacy Journey Live” personal finances event and came on the heels of a grueling promotional tour for a new book, “Smart Money Smart Kids,” that he wrote with his daughter, Rachel Cruze.

The atmosphere in the crowded concert hall had a revival feel. Ramsey takes the role of the itinerate preacher coming to town to preach the word. Except the salvation sought isn’t freedom from sin, but debt.

In a way, the event reflects Ramsey’s personal journey; a journey rooted in biblical principles and applying them to modern money problems.

For some, adding faith to finances might sound like mixing oil and water. And the combination has its critics who believe it skews too closely to the much maligned prosperity gospel and contradicts some religious ideals against accumulating wealth. But for Ramsey fans, the connection between faith and money management is seamless.

Among those fans is Michelle Singletary, a nationally syndicated personal finance columnist for The Washington Post, who finds money is one of the most talked about topics in the Bible: “How do you deal with your money? How do you stay out of debt? Don’t co-sign. Be a cheerful giver. Be careful about making money your god. All of those kinds of things which apply to everybody whether you are religious or not,” she said in a telephone interview. “It just has a deeper meaning for those of us who are believers.”

The mix of faith and finances seems to be resonating with many others, too. Ramsey’s nationally syndicated radio show is heard by 8 million people every week on more than 500 stations. He has had four New York Times best-sellers. His video seminar on finances, Financial Peace University, has been presented to more than 2 million families at nearly 45,000 churches and other organizations.

“I’m blown away at the scale of what has happened in our lives,” he tells the enthusiastic crowd.

Before he took the stage on the evening on May 14, he and his daughter sat down with us to talk about finances, faith and leaving a legacy.

Meeting God

Was your journey toward God simultaneous with getting your financial life back in order?

Dave Ramsey: For me it was a key element, in my particular walk. I always laugh and say I met God on the way up and I got to know him on the way down. And so as I’m crashing and losing everything, a lot of people run to God when they are struggling. And I was no exception. I already knew him, but I ran and got closer. I started reading the word and learning what the Bible says about all kinds of things, money being one of them. And since money was the pain point, I really wanted to know what it said about money. And so it drove me into that. In that sense, our faith was the saving grace; the thing that got us through the hard times. … So, in my particular case, the biblical finance and being tied into my faith walk was my recovery. Not only my financial recovery, but my emotional, marital and everything-else recovery.

How much does people’s relationship with or attitude toward money affect their finances?

Rachel Cruze: As believers, we believe that we are managers of what we have been given. It’s not ours. So when you function in the mentality of a manager versus an owner it changes everything. … So OK, this is God’s money. He has given it to us to manage. So what do we do with it? So that is one relationship that we have when it comes to money.

Dave Ramsey: What your beliefs are about anything creates your actions. What you believe about marriage creates the way you handle your marriage. What you believe about raising kids creates the way you do that. What you believe about your career. What you believe about money. And the problem is some of us have bad beliefs. We believe the wrong things. We believe negative things that have been said to us growing up. In the neighborhood where I grew up it was a rough neighborhood, well, not rough, but it certainly wasn’t upper class or anything. But I remember hearing things like, ‘The little man just can’t get ahead.’ And if you start to believe that, then you know what, you don’t get ahead.

God and gratitude

At the evening event, Ramsey walked around the stage interacting with various props — including an old pedestal kitchen table like the one he had when he went bankrupt. He told the crowd there are three views of wealth. The first he called “pride” — that wealth “is from me.” The second he called the “spirit of poverty” view — that wealth “is evil.” The last, and what he called the correct view of wealth, is “gratitude” — that wealth “is from God.”

“(Saying) ‘It’s my money’ there is kind of a selfishness almost in that,” he said. “And I’ve done that. Lord forgive me.”

Do you ever get concerned that our lives and the economy are based upon spending and consumption?

Dave Ramsey: I think it is the old country song of looking for love in all the wrong places. There is nothing wrong with having nice things, but when you are trying to buy nice things to be happy, you are going to hurt. It’s not going to work. There is a hole in your soul, (Blaise) Pascal said, and it can’t be filled by stuff. There is only one thing that fills that hole, and that’s God. There is a God-sized hole in your soul. … Some people try to throw stuff into the hole: bigger car, bigger house, bigger vacation, more debt associated with it. … And it just doesn’t work for them.

Fame and fortune

The audience showed a deep emotional connection with Ramsey when he grabbed a chain and began winding it around his wrists to show the effects of debt. “We come out with student loan debt. Then we buy a car. Then we buy a house.”

With each mention of a debt, the chain bound him more and more. His voice rose and fell. The crowd responded in kind with laughs and applause. This wasn’t just a show, it was their lives being depicted in cathartic crescendo.

Then, the chain was thrown aside and the shears came out, large scissors Ramsey opened and closed with a loud clippety, clippety staccato. When an audience member handed Ramsey some credit cards to cut up, the crowd yelled and hooted with encouragement.

Ramsey picked one card out, balanced it in the scissor blades before declaring judgment:

“Citibank? What’s in your wallet? Money.” Clip. The two halves fly off onto the stage floor.

He placed another doomed card on the blades.

“Lowes? I love Lowes. They take cash.” Clip. Another card went down.

The crowd shouted as if Ramsey was a champion gladiator who defeated what he and his followers see as an evil foe — credit cards.

Since his appearance, an article in The Daily Beast recounted claims by some former and current employees of Ramsey that he doesn’t tolerate criticism in the workplace. During our interview, he talked about fame and his critics.

Isn’t fame a danger? You have to market your name to do what you do. In a sense you become the product. But isn’t that dangerous for you from a spiritual standpoint?

Dave Ramsey: I think scripture is pretty clear. Wealth, fame and power are tools. And, again, if you continue to realize you are not the owner of it, and you are actually not the creator of it, it’s called a blessing, and the Bible is pretty clear, we were blessed so that we can be a blessing. … I got to tell you there is another side to it, and that is all the hate that you get. The dead animals in your mailbox and the hate. You know the hate mail that you get. It’s strange. It’s very, very strange. But you got to remember, what it comes down to is, they don’t hate me. They don’t know me. There is something broken in their life, and something we said touched a nerve. It touched a hurt place in them and so they erupt and say “Dave Ramsey is evil” or “you must be punished” or “we are going to kill your dog.” It is all these crazy crazies out there. But, again, you got to remember, ten million people have bought my books. If 1 percent of Americans are crazy, that’s a lot of crazy in my life.

Legacy and pain

Kory Scadden and his 14-year-old daughter, Sadie, stood in the lobby and talked about Ramsey’s show during the intermission. People surged by them to get into various lines to buy Ramsey’s books, DVDs and other items for sale with “tonight only” discounts.

Scadden and his wife took a Financial Peace University course at the local St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and he is excited to have his daughter learn some of the principles that are beginning to turn his financial life around. Sadie thinks so too. “I think it is really good to know what you should do to save up your money so you don’t end up broke,” she said.

“And end up living in your parents’ basement,” Scadden joked.

“Let’s not do that!” she responded.

Scadden, who is a hospice chaplain and also teaches high school religious education classes said he thinks God wants people to become debt free. “When you are taking good care of your money and it is working for you, there is a lot more peace and happiness inside the family,” he says.

What is leaving a legacy to your family all about?

Rachel Cruze: From my perspective, being born the year (my parents) filed for bankruptcy … as they started figuring out God’s and grandma’s ways of handling money, if you will, they were instilling in us kids how to do that through their example. … And because of that, in our family tree, there is a generation now of us kids who don’t have to feel that pain and that hurt.

Losing it

The pain of Ramsey’s personal failuresare in the past, but not forgotten. He brings them out often on his radio show as he advises people who made dumb mistakes. “I’ve got a degree in stupid,” he likes to say.

His faith walk is part of who he is, he doesn’t compartmentalize it, he said. You could take away his success and his core would still be there.

You lost it all once. What if that happened now? If things came crashing down, where would you be?

Dave Ramsey: It would be horrible, obviously. It would hurt. … (But) the second time you get on a bike, after you balanced it the first time, you believe it. And so you balance it again. And so, if I lost everything, as long as I didn’t lose my faith and lose my hope in the process, oh, it’ll be back quick, really, devastatingly fast.

Believing

Throughout the evening, Ramsey and his daughter covered investments and teaching children how to handle money and other topics. The second half of the show moved over the material quickly. It was getting late and tomorrow there was work. And bills to be paid.

“God bless you,” Ramsey said, and he was gone.

People filed out of the concert hall but they were not done. They gathered in small groups in the lobby and even outside and talk about what they learned. Things will get better. They know what to do. They are believers.

Kandra Polatis, Deseret News
“Moms’ Night Out,” a faith-based film that stars Patricia Heaton (who is also the executive producer of the movie) and Sean Astin, is going where few Christian films have successfully gone before — into the realm of comedy.The film, which was released on 1,000 screens nationwide on May 9, is about a group of mothers who decide they need a night to themselves, according to Paul Bond at The Hollywood Reporter.“We’re calling it a mom-com,” Jon Erwin, a co-director of the film, told Bond. “My goal was to make a movie where moms can identify with everything on the screen and be reminded of how valuable they are.”

“Comedy is really such a great icebreaker and a great way for people to have a great time and be entertained; if they also come away feeling positively impacted, that’s great,” Heaton told Schiffer. “There are a lot of comedies that come out —but most of them are R-rated, so you can’t really take your kids to them. It’s nice to be able to see a movie having your parents there and your kids there with you.”

But will clean, faith-based humor appeal to a wide audience? Eric Marrapodi at CNN asked experts this question.

“There’s a certain amusing cognitive dissonance in seeing the general form of an R-rated comedy applied to material that barely nudges its way into PG territory,” wrote D’Angelo. “The jokes are just as broad and obvious. … But the sense of transgression that usually drives a movie like this is completely absent, replaced by frantic … responsibility.”

“‘Moms’ Night Out’ is neither as sententious as one might fear nor as crass as one might hope. Mostly, it’s just bland,” he said.

Whether or not most audiences find the film funny, Craig Detweiler, a filmmaker who has helped market films to churches, said Christian comedy is possible, according to CNN.

“I think it will surprise people who tend to associate Christianity with roots in tragedy instead of comedy,” Detweiler said. “But Jesus was known for his parables that ended in punch lines. He was pretty good with zingers.”

]]>http://christian-daily-news.com/moms-night-can-christian-movies-delve-into-the-comedy-genre/feed/0‘Son of God’ Movie: Bringing Vitality to the Story of Jesushttp://christian-daily-news.com/son-of-god-movie-bringing-vitality-to-the-story-of-jesus/
http://christian-daily-news.com/son-of-god-movie-bringing-vitality-to-the-story-of-jesus/#commentsSun, 18 May 2014 21:59:43 +0000http://christian-daily-news.com/?p=13515A feed for 'Christian Daily News'. ‘Son of God’ Movie: Bringing Vitality to the Story of Jesus:

Son of God brings vitality to Jesus’ story by focusing on two taboos of polite conversation—religion and politics. Jesus was a controversial figure. Never holding public office or position, he quietly turned first-century religious and political authority on its head.

When I first met television producer Mark Burnett (Survivor, Shark Tank, The Voice), he was lunging through a small band of onlookers, bicep flexed, hammering the air with an emphatic fist. “I see him as strong—powerful, impressive,” he was saying. I could fairly hear the BANG! as fist struck air. He had my attention. “Who?” I asked, intrigued. Burnett looked at me and repeated the display for emphasis. “Jesus,” came the unexpected reply.

Burnett was dramatizing his view of Jesus of Nazareth, and how he would depict him on screen. A year later, The Bible miniseries, produced by Burnett and wife Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel), would shatter records for cable television viewership. Spiritual passion had met blockbuster television production skill.

Now Burnett and Downey have honed that passion and the story of Jesus for the big screen. Son of God (in theaters Feb. 28) combines scenes from their Bible television series with previously unreleased video to create the first major motion picture in over three decades to portray the life, character and legacy of the biblical Jesus. (Mel Gibson’s ThePassion of the Christ bears acknowledgment, but itsspecializedemphasis enriches, rather than replaces, broader depictions of Jesus.)

Do we really need another Jesus movie?

But do we really need another Jesus movie? Consider this: Jesus of Nazareth has influenced people and events for 2000 years; he still influences the daily lives of billions. He is arguably the most important figure in history. It seems that basic literacy, if nothing else, would require sound knowledge of such a person.

Unfortunately, research indicates that Americans know less about the historical Jesus than they think. Like many public figures, Jesus has been the subject of rumors, gossip and hearsay. Folk stories are easily mistaken for fact. Our most reliable records about Jesus are the New Testament histories. (These were written by individuals who either knew Jesus personally and witnessed the events, or knew the participants. They have been validated by numerous scholars [e.g., Frederic Kenyon, F.F. Bruce, etc.], and are supported by external evidence in the archeological record and ancient Hebrew and Gentile writings.) According to Barna research (2009), “by the time most Americans reach the age of 13 or 14, they think they pretty much know everything of value the Bible has to teach. ” “They are neither open to being proven wrong nor to learning new insights.” As knowledgeable as we Americans like to be, apparently we’re not so informed when it comes to the Bible. Perhaps a biblically based movie about Jesus is exactly what we need.

Accurate and accessible portrait

Of course, one can’t tell the entire story of Jesus in two hours. Son of God‘s accomplishment is to present the essence of Jesus in a compact user-friendly format. It offers viewers an accurate and accessible portrait of Jesus as described in the historical documents. As in any feature-length biopic, events have been condensed and details have been omitted. But with a multitude of theological scholars contributing to the film, the overall portrait has remained faithful to the spirit of the biblical accounts. Think oil painting rather than high-definition photograph.

Religion and politics

Son of God brings vitality to Jesus’ story by focusing on two taboos of polite conversation—religion and politics. Jesus was a controversial figure. Never holding public office or position, he quietly turned first-century religious and political authority on its head. Religious leaders deemed him a dangerous heretic; the Roman governor considered him a potential threat to social order.

A simplistic re-telling of this history would pit Jesus and the good guys against the evil Roman and Jewish authorities. However, the screenwriters adopt a more astute and realistic approach. Digging into the biblical accounts, they portray each contingent comprising rational individuals with heavy responsibilities, people who make sometimes agonizing decisions in order to carry out the burdens of their offices. And therein lies the central conflict: Jesus came to free the world; the religious and political authorities were there to control it.

In this sense, Son of God is a very modern story about power and control. Watching this movie, I was struck that politics and human nature haven’t changed, that many controversies of first century Judea continue today. Somehow, this humble Nazarene continues to threaten those who would control others. They still try to silence him, to prevent his teachings—or even teaching about him—in public forums. It is no accident that many communist and Islamist countries, where central control is fundamental, outlaw teaching about Jesus.

Even in the USA—a modern archetype of political and religious freedom—many would muzzle or diminish Jesus and his supporters. “He is popular among the less educated” says Pilate (the Roman governor) in the movie. They are “poor, uneducated and easy to command,” wrote a Washington Post reporter of evangelical Christians in 1993. “He’ll be forgotten in a week,” says the movie’s Pilate. “Jesus never existed,” say abundant authors of books on Amazon. “We can’t talk about Jesus in public schools,” say educators and parents who misunderstand the Constitution. His story is very alive.

An enigmatic attraction

In contrast to those in power, the masses in the movie love Jesus. Ordinary people are drawn to him by the same enigmatic power that threatens the authorities. He is gentle, but firm; humble, but powerful. To borrow from Kipling, he “keeps his head while all around him are losing theirs.”

He acts with the assurance of one who knows who he is, why he is here, and where he is going. He teaches about God’s Kingdom; forgives sins; remains unruffled by threats; and speaks truth to power. When the high priest asks him, “Are you the Son of God?” (a capital offense if claimed) he answers quietly and firmly, “I AM.”

Rich content

Son of God can be viewed on a surface level, but the film offers rich content for those who would dig deeper. I found myself watching on several levels simultaneously—considering what the story meant to participants 2000 years ago, what it reveals about humanity and God, and how it is relevant today. Viewed this way, the movie presents a rewarding intellectual challenge. Many episodes would provide fertile fodder for discussion.

One glaring omission is Satan’s temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. This crucial episode apparently was deleted to avoid public controversy, rather than for artistic or theological reasons. In TheBible series, veteran Moroccan actor Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni portrayed Satan. Belatedly, people realized that the man suffers the occupational misfortune (for someone portraying the devil) of resembling President Obama. The furor went viral; serious discussion of the series was temporarily interrupted. (I can envision the real Satan holding his sides with laughter.) Okay, we’ve had our amusement; let’s move on. For the integrity of the story, I hope the producers include this scene in a future cut of the movie.

A different kind of hero

Jesus is a hero who will appeal to those who love truth and hate hypocrisy, who disdain judging others and believe in the power of love and forgiveness. Son of God may help you get to know him better.

Rated PG-13 (USA) “for intense and bloody depiction of The Crucifixion, and for some sequences of violence”

Meg Korpi is a writer and editor with Rusty Wright Communications and senior research scientist with the Character Research Institute in Northern California. She holds a PhD from, and formerly taught at, Stanford University.www.RustyWright.com

Colton Burpo, age 3, had a near-death experience during a 2003 emergency appendectomy. He claims he rose above his body and saw the doctor working on him, his parents each praying in separate rooms, and his mother speaking on the phone.

And that angels sang Sunday School songs. He asked them to sing “We Will, We Will Rock You,” but they declined. Colton Burpo, age 3, had a near-death experience (NDE) during a 2003 emergency appendectomy. He claims he rose above his body and saw the doctor working on him, his parents each praying in separate rooms, and his mother speaking on the phone.

Astounded parents

Four months after surgery, Colton told this to his astounded parents, Todd and Sonja. Todd affirms, “There was no way he could have known” some of it. “We had not told him what we were doing while he was in surgery, under anesthesia, apparently unconscious.” The Burpos’ gripping story became a bestselling book, Heaven is for Real, and now a film opening in the US April 16. Randall Wallace (Braveheart, Secretariat) co-wrote and directed the TriStar production.

About seven months post-surgery, Colton said, “Mommy … you had a baby die in your tummy, didn’t you?” Todd and Sonja had never told him about the miscarriage preceding his conception. Colton said his unborn sister – whom he met in heaven – was eager to meet her parents there. Colton said in heaven he also met his great grandfather “Pop,” who died in 1976. Though he didn’t seem to recognize Pop from an age-61 photo, he later identified age-29 Pop in another photo. “Nobody’s old in heaven,” Colton explains.

Legitimate experience?

I have longtime personal and professional interest in NDEs. My late mother had one. I’ve written, lectured extensively, and broadcast about them. Was Colton’s experience legitimate?

Physiological NDE explanations consider factors like head trauma and oxygen deficiency. Pharmacological theories posit drugs or anesthetics. Psychological explanations propose defense mechanisms, wish fulfillment, misinterpretation. Spiritual explanations see NDEs as afterlife previews, either genuine or distorted. Applications of these theories can be complex. Certainly Colton had anesthesia. And his church upbringing – Todd’s a pastor – could have planted mental images that influenced his interpretations.

Careful method?

But Todd feels Colton had no previous exposure for some of his reported visions. Todd and Sonja carefully asked Colton mostly open-ended questions – not leading ones – to minimize bias. Todd told me that, not anticipating writing a book, he and Sonja didn’t write down Colton’s 2003 NDE accounts back then. The book released in 2010. Memories, of course, can shift over time. It’s difficult to dismiss Colton’s accurate account of his parents’ whereabouts during his operation. Alas, we don’t have a mind/spirit-reading machine to validate NDE accounts. And anyway, these events usually aren’t controlled clinical situations; they’re medical emergencies.

The real Burpo family(Photo: Sony Pictures)

Is there life after death?

Can we know if there’s life after death? As somewhat of a skeptic, I concluded there is, not based on NDEs but on evidence for Jesus’ resurrection. He predicted his own death and return to life, and then it happened. This gives me confidence to believe his claim, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying.” Heaven is for Real is an entertaining book and film that engages heart, mind and spirit. Both portray this ordinary family coping with life’s daily challenges, plus – they feel – a supernatural encounter. You may not agree with every detail; I still have questions. But I predict their story will get you thinking. And if you’ve ever been confused about life or angry with God, you’ll find passionate – and compassionate – kindred spirits.

Filmmaker Randall Wallacedirects Connor Corum(Photo: Sony Pictures)

Colton Burpo remains a regular kid, now a teenager. He attends school, plays sports, and has normal sibling relationships. During family brainstorming for the book’s title, his sister Cassie suggested He’s Back, but He’s No Angel.

Is heaven for real? Absolutely. Did Colton Burpo see heaven? Perhaps; maybe even likely. But can we really be sure heaven exists? For ultimate confidence, my money’s on the one who predicted his own resurrection, then pulled it off.

Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively. His website is: RustyWright.com.

]]>http://christian-daily-news.com/movie-claims-heaven-is-for-real/feed/0The Noah Movie: A Story about Courage, Faith and Hopehttp://christian-daily-news.com/the-noah-movie-a-story-about-courage-faith-and-hope/
http://christian-daily-news.com/the-noah-movie-a-story-about-courage-faith-and-hope/#commentsMon, 12 May 2014 11:07:40 +0000http://christian-daily-news.com/?p=13356A feed for 'Christian Daily News'. The Noah Movie: A Story about Courage, Faith and Hope:

OK, how would you feel if you thought you heard God telling you he was going to destroy every living thing on earth with a great flood? Except he wanted you to build a boat to survive the tumult with a few relatives and a slew of creatures.

MOUNT HERMON, CA(ANS) – OK, how would you feel if you thought you heard God telling you he was going to destroy every living thing on earth with a great flood?

Except he wanted you to build a boat to survive the tumult with a few relatives and a slew of creatures.

Would you jump at the challenge? Run and hide? Ask – as Bill Cosby did in his classic comedy routine portraying Noah – “Right! Who is this really?”

Russell Crowe as Noah(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

Perhaps you’ll sense how the biblical Noah felt. Paramount Pictures and director/co-writer Darren Aronofsky bring Noah to the big screen in North America and worldwide throughout late March and April. The cast includes Russell Crowe in the title role, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson and Anthony Hopkins.

With breathtaking cinematography, this film imagines some intense struggles for Noah and his family. We see sorrow for lost masses, interpersonal conflicts, and practical realities of living on a creature-packed craft.

Taking Liberties

Paramount says Noah’s story “inspired” the film, but that “artistic license has been taken.” Too much license, feel some. I’m reminded of TV’s iconic psychiatrist Frasier Crane, concerned that an employee was “taking far too much liberty with the liberty-taking!” Readers of the biblical Noah story won’t find there, for instance, the film’s multi-armed fallen angels, its pronounced environmentalist message, or hordes of people fighting to board the ark.

Russell Crowe as Noah(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

The biblical account is short – mostly Genesis 6-9– with little detail about ark life. So, yes, the filmmakers took liberties – many. Aronofsky recently toldThe Atlantic he views the story “as poetry and myth and legend” that helps us understand the world and ourselves.

But the essential framework of the biblical flood story – human evil, divine judgment, hope and salvation – remains in Noah. Consider these facets of that story and their modern implications.

Genesis says humanity was a mess: “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. … It broke his heart.”

Human corruption prompted him to “destroy every living thing.” But “Noah was a righteous man … [who] walked in close fellowship with God.” God told him to build a large boat, specifying precise dimensions and design.

Filmmakers took pains to follow biblical specs for their ark. The production designer had many ideas for the ark’s appearance, but Aronofsky, who is Jewish, insisted, “No, the measurements are right there.”

Salvation, Hope, Promise

Noah built his ark and took aboard his wife, their three sons with their wives, plus pairs of animals, birds and crawling creatures. Elaborate computer-generated imagery portrays the animals for film.

Rain poured, underground water erupted, and floodwaters covered the earth. Every human, bird and land animal not in the ark perished. The waters receded, the earth dried, and the ark inhabitants disembarked. God promised never again to destroy the earth by flood, offering the rainbow as a pledge reminder.

Emma Watson as Ila(Photo: Paramount Pictures)

Faith, Future

If you attend the film, I suggest reading the biblical account first, then again after the screening. Noah’s story has much for a 21st–Century audience, including two nuggets about faith and the future.

The New Testament lauds Noah for his faith. He was not perfect. “Wickedness is…in all of us,” he tells his wife in the film. His own drunkenness – depicted in the film – led to embarrassment and family conflict. But his faith in God mattered. I came to faith as a skeptical university student. It has made all the difference in my life.

Concerning the future, Jesus indicated his second coming would be “like it was in Noah’s day” with people carrying on their routines and unaware of impending peril. “You also must be ready all the time,” he continued, “for the Son of Man will come when least expected.”

Rusty Wright is an author and lecturer who has spoken on six continents. He holds Bachelor of Science (psychology) and Master of Theology degrees from Duke and Oxford universities, respectively. His website is: RustyWright.com.

Alison Moore, Deseret News
“American Idol” finalist Mandisa won two Grammy Awards Sunday night, but instead of attending the glamorous event with other celebrities, she celebrated at home in her sweats.The gospel singer stayed home to watch the pre-telecast ceremony online for several reasons, including her faith.

“I have been struggling with being in the world, not of it lately. I have fallen prey to the alluring pull of flesh, pride, and selfish desires quite a bit recently. … I knew that submerging myself into an environment that celebrates those things was risky for me at this time. I am taking steps to renew my mind to become the Heavenly Father-centered, completely satisfied with Jesus, and Holy Spirit-led woman I felt I was a few months ago, but I’m feeling a bit like an infant learning to walk again on shaky legs.”

Her fans left comments of love, support and admiration.

“I LOVE your honesty and so appreciate your heart! Congratulations on the special win, and even more on the stand you took to guard your heart and making your relationship with God the number 1 priority! He will honor that. Bless you!” Julie Shawbeck wrote.

Another fan, Hannah Percival, wrote, “Congratulations on your Godly strength to put your relationship with God above the world’s expectations. Congratulations on your Grammys too!! You are such a strong woman of God and such an inspiration!”

He competitor for Best Contemporary Christian Music Song, Natalie Grant, had a similar experience. The Christian singer tweeted out that she left the awards show early, but didn’t specify any specific incident as the reason.

“(1 of 2) We left the Grammy’s early. I’ve many thoughts, most of which are probably better left inside my head. But I’ll say this:

I’ve never been more honored to sing about Jesus and for Jesus. And I’ve never been more sure of the path I’ve chosen.”

In response, Grant wrote on her Facebook page, “I never pointed out any one particular performance, I only said I had many thoughts about the entire show, which were best left inside my head and that is where they will stay. … I’ve judged no one. I hate no one. And I believe that every person has been created in the image of God. I will never stand on a street corner and wave a sign, I won’t use my platform to engage in political arguments that will only divide and not unite. I will continue to pray that my life will be my message.”

Despite their struggles coming to terms with the awards show, both Mandisa and Grant acknowledged their gratitude for their place in the industry.

“With what I do for a living, and the doors that have opened for me to sing about Jesus on mainstream platforms, I take the phrase from John 15:19, ‘be in the world, not of it’ seriously,” Mandisa wrote. “God never taught us to stay in our safe Christian bubbles, completely separating from those who do not share our faith (see 1 Corinthians 5). … I can’t force my morality on anyone else. What I can do is live my life in such a way that reflects well on my Savior, stand firm in my values, and do all of these things in love.”

Grant wrote similar sentiments, saying, “I am honored to be a part of the Christian music community. I’ve had many people throughout my career ask why I never tried to go in to mainstream music and last night was a beautiful reminder that I love singing about Jesus and FOR Jesus.”

Three years since he claimed the title of "American Idol," 20-year-old Scotty McCreery is still sticking by his Christian faith. In the book "Once-a-Day Country Faith: 56 Reflections From Today's Leading Country Music Stars," McCreery shares the importance of his faith.

Scotty McCreery during his State Farm video shoot for Celebrate My Drive

Sarah Sanders Petersen, Deseret News
After a year of “twerking” and controversial performances from artist with country roots, another young country star has made it clear that is not the type of thing his fans can expect from him.

The book includes thoughts about his time on his high school baseball team and the scripture verse that he relied on.

“I keep a lot of my old baseball hats, and if you look in the hats I’ve had since I started pitching, you’ll see Philippians 4:13 written on the brim,” CMT reported McCreery saying. “That’s the scripture that gets me through the day because sometimes you can’t do it all by yourself. You can’t do it on your own, so you lean on him.”

In fact, McCreery attributes much of his success on the reality TV show “American Idol” to his reliance on his faith and family.

“It was the best time of my life, but it was tough and definitely stressful,” CMT reported McCreery saying. “That was when I’d have to really dig into the word and pray and ask for prayers from my friends back home. I leaned on that verse, and I got through it.”

Since then, McCreery has grown and begun to adjust to his new lifestyle, while striving to stay true to who he is.

“The road is a fun place, and it’s a great place to get out there and explore the country,” McCreery told Fox 411. “But as far as the road life with the ‘rock and roll temptations,’ there’s not much of that with me.”

McCreery then joked with Fox 411 when asked about how he will stick to his beliefs in a business that is not known for its standards.

“I grew up with the older-style country, so you hear the more heartfelt things, whether it was somebody hurting or dying. These are songs that had a deep meaning to them and are more than just riding around in a truck and falling in love with a hot girl. I enjoy listening to something that has a deep meaning to it.”

LOS ANGELES, CA(ANS) – On the face of it, Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, should never have come together, got married, and then produce a major new movie called “Son of God,” which tells the compelling life story of Jesus Christ, from his humble birth, through his teachings, crucifixion and ultimate resurrection, which is due for a much-anticipated release on February 28, 2014.

You see that Mark, a wildly successful British-American television producer, now based in Los Angeles, and the visionary behind “Survivor,” “The Voice,” “The Bible,” and “Shark Tank,” was from the wrong background for his lovely Ulster-born wife, Roma Downey, a star of “Touched by an Angel,”) who hails from the Bogside, a once troubled neighborhood outside the city walls of Derry, Northern Ireland.

Before his meteoric rise in the entertainment business, Burnett, who was born in Dagenham, a large suburb of east London, England, joined the British Army Parachute Regiment at 17 and served from 1977 to 1982. He was even awarded active service medals in both the Northern Island and Falklands conflicts.

The Daily Mirror’s front page

Roma’s home, the Bogside, had been a focus point for many of the events of “The Troubles” – which began in 1969, when a fierce three-day battle against the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and local Protestants, which became a starting point of the violent struggle in Northern Ireland that spilled over at various times into the Republic of Ireland, England and mainland Europe. “The Troubles” began in the late 1960s and is considered by many to have ended with the Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998, although some violence continued and between 1969 and 2001, 3,526 people were killed as a result of the conflict.

Between 1969 and 1972, in what was known as the “Battle of the Bogside,” the area, along with the Creggan and other Catholic areas, became a no-go area for the British Army and police. Both the Official and Provisional IRA members openly patrolled the area and local residents often paid subscriptions to both.

A young Fr. Edward Daly (who became Bishop Daly) carries a blood-soaked handkerchief as he leads a group of men trying desperately to carry John ‘Jackie’ Duddy to safety. Duddy (17) was the first fatality of Bloody Sunday after being shot from behind by paratroopers

Then came what was known as “Bloody Sunday,” when on the January 30, 1972, the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association organized a march against internment that was put into effect the year before turned into a blood bath. The British government had decided that imprisoning people without trial was the only way they could restore order to Northern Ireland, but it had the opposite effect.

On that terrible day, the British Parachute Regiment shot dead 14 unarmed protesters and injured 14 more; this resulted in a large surge of recruitment for both wings of the IRA in the city. After Operation Motorman and the end of Free Derry and other no-go areas in Northern Ireland, the Bogside along with the majority of the city experienced frequent street riots and sectarian conflict lasting all the way to the early 1990s.

During an interview with the couple at a pre-release screening of “Son of God” at the Dream Center Angelus Temple in Los Angles, Roma revealed that Bono, with his Irish band, U2, had immortalized the event with the release of “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” It was the opening track from their 1983 album “War,” which was mainly focusing on the “Bloody Sunday” incident in Derry.

Roma said, “The song came about when there was a civil rights march in the early 1970s and 14 people were killed that day. Outraged by that day, U2 created that song that really has become anthemic around the world.”

A recent picture of the happy couple

So, having been raised in such a situation, Mark certainly did not appear to be the kind of person that a girl from the Bogside would have married, but then, that’s when God’s love came into play and in a 2007 Malibu beach ceremony officiated by actor Della Reese, also from “Touched by an Angel,” they linked their lives together.

They says that their deep-rooted Christian faith came into play and overcame any differences and eventually this resulted in this Emmy Awarding husband and wife teaming up to produce the “The Bible,” an epic five-week, 10-hour television miniseries which premiered March 3, 2013 on the History Channel. For two hours each Sunday night millions of viewers saw the Bible from Genesis to Revelation come to life in a way never before seen. The final episode of the series aired on Easter Sunday and featured the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So I asked Roma, how they came to produce “The Bible” miniseries and now “Son of God?”

Roma Downey in Touched by an Angel

“For ten years, I played an angel on ‘Touched by an Angel,’ and the premise of that show, at its simplest, was that there is a God and that He loves you and that He wants to be part of your life,” she replied. “It was a privilege for me to be playing the angel — to be messenger — and delivering that message every week. And so, when that show came off the air, I was wondering how I would be called again and what I might do next.

“And Mark and I felt this whispering in our hearts to bring to the screen the stories of our Bible and over a cup of tea, where all the best decisions are made, we decided that we would that we would produce together the series on the Bible.

“I’m gentle by nature and I might still be there politely knocking on doors if it had been left to me to just try to sell that concept to a network. However, my husband, on the other hand, is a former military man and is much feistier by nature. So while I would be politely knocking on the doors, he was right next to me kicking the doors down, and we eventually we got a deal with the History Network and we aired the Bible miniseries this past year in the United States and it drew in, by the time it finished, about a hundred-million people who watched it in the United States alone. And it’s since gone to air around the world making ripples and really touching people’s hearts. It’s been wonderful.”

Mark then chipped in, and said, “We are Christians and it was a calling and we felt that our job was to use our enormous secular success on television and in the entertainment industry, to get the Bible series made.”

So how did the “Son of God” come about?

“While shooting the Jesus portion, we realized that this really needed to be a big feature film,” said Mark. “So we started overshooting and planning for this film which comes out February 28th and is a two hour movie on the life of Jesus which is made in a very fantastic way; very gripping very dramatic.

Poster for the film

“We remembered that the disciples at that time didn’t know they were in the Bible. They were a bunch of tough guys following a charismatic leader who later is revealed to be the Son of God. Imagine the fear they were going through when they discovered this and imagine the Romans hunting them down and the temple authorities trying to get rid of them.

“This was a very tense time and the only person who knew what was happening was Jesus. He led them into Jerusalem and soon they were so frightened and, of course, He knew He was going to his death. The movie takes you from after the crucifixion through to the resurrection, and then to the ascension, and the great commission.”

I then raised the topic of the violence that was so graphically portrayed in Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” and wondered how they had dealt with His terrible suffering in the streets of Jerusalem and then on the cross at Calvary, in their new movie.

Roma said that they were, of course, deeply aware of Christ’s anguishes, but added, “We wanted families to be able to experience the movie together and so we worked with the ratings guys to ensure that we got a PG13 rating for the film.

“The crucifixion is hard to watch. It was a brutal way to die, but our movie moves through that and into the hope and promise of the resurrection through to the ascension and the great commission and it’s really beautiful.

“I think you know that Jesus has not been on the big screen for ten years, when ‘The Passion of the Christ’ came out and we believe that there’s a whole new generation of young people that will be inspired by seeing this film. We’ve tried to present it in a way that emotionally engages an audience.

Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado portrays Jesus

“We cast a beautiful and extraordinary Portuguese actor called Diogo Morgado and he gives an amazing performance and gives us the qualities of strength, kindness, and compassion. He’s an actor who plays the lion and the lamb and when you see this, you’re reminded of what an extraordinary love story this is.”

Roma added, “The movie actually begins on the Island of Patmos [a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea] and is told through the memory of the disciple John who is there living in exile and he’s remembering how extraordinary Jesus was, and is, and how his life was changed and so through his eyes we go back and it then begins at the nativity.”

Mark explained that the idea for the movie was a joint one with him and his wife, and also, of God. “We worked on the initial story, lovingly and prayerfully for five years. Some things just worked out — its God’s plan — and it just came in the edit and we realized this was the best way to do it.

“This is a very dramatic film. This is not your old 1960s donkeys and sandals story, but this is something for young people. This is a 2014 movie and it looks like it with big special effects. This is a story that can really affect the world in getting to know and love Jesus.”

Roma then said the movie was shot entirely on location in Morocco, and she recalled that when they first arrived there in February, it was very cold.

“By the time we finished filming early to middle of July the temperatures were soaring you could have fried an egg on the ground,” she smiled. “As we were bringing scripture to the screen, we had scholars and theologians we worked with in the shaping of the scripts. I think that, perhaps dramatically and emotionally, the most complicated scene was probably the crucifixion. It was extraordinarily moving for everybody there.

“It took us three days to film that particular sequence. We were on a lonely hillside on the outskirts of town and we had to deal with, on one of those shooting days, very high winds. So there were always concerns for our actor’s safety because logistically we had to put a man up on a cross and we had to make sure the cross was bolted to the ground and was safe.

“Even though this was a reenactment, there wasn’t a person there who didn’t feel the enormity of what He had done for us. And then, for Mark and I, as believers, to be there at the foot of the cross we were reminded of how much we were loved; that He [Jesus] would have done that for us.”

Roma played Mary, the mother of Jesus in the film, and Mark said, “There was such a connection between Diogo Morgado the Portuguese actor who plays Jesus, and Roma as Mary. It was so emotional to see the pain of the mother who knows who Jesus is. Gabriel had told her that she was to be the mother of Jesus, and she knows exactly who Jesus is she, but she also knows this must happen.

“But it’s still her son she doesn’t feel any better about it. So this is a very emotionally connective film, wrapped in a drama, because it was a dramatic time in that first century Jerusalem. And this also is a movie that young people will be talking about for decades as for many of them, this will be the first time they get to really understand who Jesus is.”

I then shared with the couple that I had recently released a book called “Mary, My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary” – www.marythebook.com – which tells the story of Jesus through the eyes of his beloved mother.

And then I asked Roma what it was like playing Mary.

“It was such a privilege to step into that role,” she said. “I can’t begin to imagine what she must have been feeling on that Jerusalem road when she witnessed Jesus falling with the cross, and then standing at the foot of the cross. I know that, while she was the mother of the Son of God, she was also the mother of a son and so I tried as an actor to bring a mother’s heart to the role.

“I’m a mother myself and to try to feel those scenes through a mother’s heart was to see those scenes was extraordinary. It was a great privilege and was one of the most moving and profound roles I will ever play.”

I then asked the actress if she felt that Mary ever understand why she had been chosen for this role in life?

“I don’t know that she understood why, but she’s a great teacher for all of us because she said ‘yes’ and the Holy Spirit came into her. She had such trust and she showed it every day. What we can learn from her is that we need to step out in faith each day and also say ‘yes’ to God.”

I then asked Mark what he would have asked Jesus if he ever had the opportunity, and he replied, “Wow, there are so many things, but one of would be, ‘Why did you always speak in parables?’ In Mark 4, we understand that He only spoke in parables except in very small groups, mainly with the disciples when He would untie the fishing knots of the complications of what he was saying.

“But clearly Jesus is God and God knows best and God decided to only speak in parables to large groups in an enigmatic way and it clearly worked because here we are, some 2,000 years later, and there’s 2.2 billion Christians and it all started with 12 disciples. And how on earth they survived the Romans and why didn’t they just kill all of the disciples after they had killed Jesus, but it was always in God’s plan.”

Then back to the movie, Mark said, “We encourage everybody to go the movie as I believe it is a game changer for the next couple of decades on spreading the word of Jesus.”

We ended the interview by talking about the start of this story – the fact that an Englishman and an Irish lady were working together on such a project, which in itself seemed to be quite a miracle after all of the violence in Northern Ireland.

“That’s right, it is absolutely a miracle,” said Roma, with a laugh. “My husband also served in the British military so there was a good chance I threw a stone at him.”

Mark then added, “It just shows you that love can overcome anything. Look at Ireland today, which is in peace with a vibrant economy, and it shows that this is all about love. And the story of Jesus is a story of love. What a blessing for us both. We got to be married and are very much in love and then we got to work on the story we love the most. We’re so blessed.”

Note: I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing this interview.
See all ASSIST News articles at www.assistnews.net

Dan Wooding, 73, is an award-winning journalist who who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 50 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and he hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on the KWVE Radio Network in Southern California and which is also carried throughout the United States and around the world. He is the author of some 45 books, the latest of which is a novel about the life of Jesus through the eyes of his mother called “Mary: My Story from Bethlehem to Calvary”. (Click to order)

By every measure, Europe has become increasingly secular since the 1960s. Even in the far more religious United States, the percentage of adults regularly attending church or synagogue fell from 41 to 31 percent, or roughly by a quarter, between 1972 and 2002.

A significant new book argues that family and faith are deeply connected. Secular people form fewer families and have fewer children; unmarried and childless people tend to be secular. Those who value faith should also value and support family.

By Daniel Peterson, Deseret News
By every measure, Europe has become increasingly secular since the 1960s. Even in the far more religious United States, the percentage of adults regularly attending church or synagogue fell from 41 to 31 percent, or roughly by a quarter, between 1972 and 2002.Europe is also collapsing demographically, with fewer marriages, more divorces and fewer children. Across the continent, each generation is smaller than the one before it. The notion of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” is largely myth nowadays; most young Greek children have no brothers and sisters, no aunts and uncles. Almost half of all Swedish households today have only one occupant.

The striking exception to Europe’s population decline is its Muslim community, which, through high fertility as well as immigration, is growing rapidly both in absolute and relative terms.

But Americans have no cause for complacency. Our marriage and birth rates have also dropped; we’re simply lagging a bit behind.

The clear relationship between increasing secularism and decreasing marriage and birth rates has long been noticed, and it’s been thought to be a causal one: Secular people tend to marry later, if at all, and to have smaller families. In other words, religious decline comes first, followed by demographic decline.

Mary Eberstadt, a senior fellow of both the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C., agrees that loss of faith leads to shrinking families. But, in her important new book “How the West Really Lost God,” she argues that the undermining of the family undermines Christianity, too. (She focuses on Christianity, but her analysis seems applicable to other religions.)

As she expresses it, “family and faith are the invisible double helix of society — two spirals that when linked to one another can effectively reproduce, but whose strength and momentum depend on one another.” Religious values are first taught in the home, and the home is where religious practice is modeled for the next generation.

And it works the other way, too: A married man with children is more than twice as likely to attend church as an unmarried man with no children. Children, Eberstadt argues, “drive parents to church” as those parents seek help and support in child rearing. In other words, family fuels faith in this respect, rather than the other way around.

Many people, of course, welcome secularization. And more than a few welcome the decline of the “traditional” family. But, following her meticulous and well-informed case for the historical causes of both, Eberstadt proceeds to argue that each of these declines comes at a very steep social, economic and civic price. “Both believers and secularists,” she contends, “benefit in public ways from Christian faith and the natural family,” and, accordingly, both should care about their weakening presence in Europe and the broader West.

Her book is very solidly documented. (It probably doesn’t hurt that her husband, Nicholas Eberstadt, is himself a prominent political economist and demographer.) She discusses the manifold health benefits and other advantages conferred upon believers by their faith and their involvement in religious communities, and also points out the dangerous strains to which governments (and especially welfare states) will be subjected by aging populations.

Not only will there be fewer young people still in the work force and paying the taxes to sustain their elders, but the elderly, lacking the support of children and kinsfolk, will require more services from governments. The state will be obliged to function as substitute family to them. Moreover, with only a few years left to live, subsidized seniors will have far less personal reason than their younger compatriots to be concerned about excessive government spending and debt; they’ll be gone when the bills come due.

But we shouldn’t think that the elderly will be getting a one-sided good deal as they ride off into the sunset on the backs of unrelated (and possibly resentful) younger people. One of the most poignant images in Eberstadt’s book is that of aged Japanese using electronic toys as substitutes for their never-born grandchildren.

“Vibrant families and vibrant religions go hand in hand,” Eberstadt argues. “Conversely, not having a wedding ring or a nursery means that one is less likely to be found in church.”

People of faith should, therefore, be concerned about the health of the family. The future of their faith — and the salvation of many souls — may well depend upon it.